Group Accuses Waterloo’s Tyson Of Price Gouging Under Inflation Rouse

Meat producers were under fire Friday morning when activists pointed fingers at meat producers for capitalizing on inflation.

At Jubilee United Methodist Church in Waterloo, activists with Unrig Our Economy accused Tyson and other meat producers of using inflation to hide price gouging practices.

The accusations were focused on Tyson, who has a facility in Waterloo. Tyson gained national attention during the pandemic because of its worker safety protocols. In May, a report from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus that looked into these safety protocols found infections and death rate was higher than previously believed,  and that the major meatpackers tried to shield themselves from legal liability from it.

According to the report, the meatpacking corporations falsely claimed meat shortages to justify their operation.

In an article in Iowa Now News, Black Hawk Representative Timi Brown Powers saws these unfair practices and accusations are nothing new.

This is nothing new because what they’ve done is they’ve monopolized and they’ve monopolized on the backs of their workers, the consumers, the grocers, and all of us.

The activists used Friday, which they called Corporate Greed Day of Action as their platform as they call out the meatpackers for “corporate greed”.

In April, Iowa lawmakers called out the CEO’s of the meatpackers for raising prices. Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne contributed to the conversation saying that 17,000 cattle producers have been leaving the industry every year since 1980 and those producers went from receiving $0.60 per dollar to $0.40 per dollar consumers spend on beef.

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Unrig Our Economy claims Tyson jacked-up meat prices by 25 percent with inflation reaching levels we have not seen for decades. They also say these corporations are getting help from lawmakers.

The group claimed, “Tyson gets big breaks from Congressional District Representative Ashley Hinson while she supports legislation in their favor so they can stack up while hard-working families struggle."

Iowa News Now reached out to Congresswomen Hinson about this claim, and her team responded by saying;

Iowans know the Biden Administration is to blame for record-high prices at the grocery store and at the gas pump. Congresswoman Hinson has proposed real solutions to combat inflation and has introduced bipartisan legislation to rein in Biden and Pelosi’s out-of-control spending and bring costs down.